I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to containers and, more particularly, to a collapsible container particularly suited for displaying merchandise.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Bins for displaying merchandise, known in the trade as hypermarche bins, have long been used in European countries and are now enjoying increasing acceptance in the United States. Hypermarche bins are advantageous to retailers in that handling and display costs are reduced since relatively large amounts of merchandise can be dumped into the bins and then moved to the point of display. This reduces storage costs and eliminates the need for separately removing each item of merchandise from containers and arranging the merchandise items on a shelf. Moreover, hypermarche bins typically include provisions for stacking one bin upon another thereby maximizing the utilization of the available floor space. It is for these reasons that the use of hypermarche bins is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States.
Since the hypermarche bin is designed to store and display relatively large amounts of merchandise, the previously known bins are, of necessity, bulky in nature. Consequently, the storage of empty bins has rapidly developed into a major storage problem. In practice, the cost savings achieved by these bins is often times offset by the storage cost of empty bins.
Also heretofore such bins have been made entirely of wire members and therefore have not been sufficiently sturdy to support a number of filled bins one on top the other.
In order to reduce the storage costs of empty bins, previously known bins have been developed in which the bin is collapsible thereby reducing the space consumed by the empty bin. However, these previously known collapsible bins have proven, in practice, to be somewhat difficult to assemble by the merchandiser's employees. An improperly assembled bin is prone to collapse, which not only damages the merchandise, but also presents a serious safety hazard when the merchandising bins are stacked one upon the other. Furthermore, these previously known bins, even when collapsed, are nevertheless bulky and, accordingly, difficult to store.